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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Learning Styles

Along with Multiple Intelligences, I also have them do a Learning Style survey

Learning Style pages.

Right side page flipped over.

Page 8 Learning Style Survey
This page is a survey that the kids take to identify what their personal learning style is. The survey is split into three parts (visual, auditory, kinesthetic). They read each statement and mark it with a 0 if the statement does not apply to them, a 1 if the statement sometimes applies to them, and a 2 if the statement strongly applies to them. When they are done with each section the add up their numbers.

Learning Style survey. As you can see, I am certainly NOT an auditory learner.

Underneath the survey, the kids tape down a page of learning style suggestions. I like this because they are pretty specific and some of them are really unique ideas (if you are kinesthetic, chew gum while studying).

Learning Style suggestions

Page 7 Learning Style Activity
On this page I had them use the suggestions from page 8 to draw some ideas of the best ways for them to learn

Learning Style activity.

I think that these pages are especially important because kids need to understand that not everyone processes information the same way. Most of the time kids don't know anything about learning styles and they think that they are "dumb" when in reality they just aren't studying or learning in the right way. A kid that isn't a particularly strong auditory learner might end up thinking that they aren't smart in a history class where the teacher lectures, but as soon as that kid starts to draw pictures and make flashcards they realize that they can do it.

I've had kids complain to me that they aren't doing well in a particular class where the teacher lectures and they tell me that the reason is, "I'm a visual learner, of course I'm not going to be doing well when all she does is talk." This makes me smile because I'm glad that they know this information about themselves. When this happens though, we have to have the conversation about how they can help themselves in this type of an environment instead of just blaming the type of instruction they are receiving. It's always nice to know though that something I did stuck with them :)

Download the pages here:(These are embedded using Box. If you are having trouble downloading it try using a different computer and/or browser)*I don't take credit for creating ANY of these. I would link to where I got them from but I have no idea where to even look*Unfortunately, I can't find the file for the learning suggestions so the survey is all I have uploaded. A few commenters though have found some though so scroll down and check out their links!

Thank you for all of your detailed how to information. This is my first year teaching and I really want to use ISN's but I've been overwhelmed trying to decide how to start! When you have a page like the "learning suggestions" where it is not a full sheet of paper but still a standard rectangle, do you use a paper cutter and pre-cut those or do you have the students cut those out in class?

Of course, I just hope to be able to help! It's the teacher in me that feels the need to explain things in a super detailed way to make everything crystal clear and easy to follow.

For the half sheets it really depends on the kids and my plan for the day. If I'm feeling ambitious in the morning or if I have a lot to get done during the period I will use the paper cutter at school. Otherwise I would just hand out one for each pair (they sit at tables to it's easy) and one kid cuts it apart and gives the other one their half.

Sometimes I'll even have all my periods do the cutting on their own but if I know one class can't handle it I'll cut just theirs to save time and hassle.

Hey Sarah-- Is there any way you could email me this document? I don't have a subscription to Scribd, and I teach at a private school, so I don't get any $ to spend from my school for my classroom. I would LOVE to do this activity with my 7th graders next week. I think it would help them immensely!